Paying taxes is a promise to keep the nation alive for all of us

THE Inland Revenue Board recently went after 2,213 tax defaulters nationwide. While the government is drowning in healthcare bills, ageing infrastructure, subsidy costs, climate disasters, debt payments and more people asking for help, a chunk of society keeps operating in undeclared cash, under the table, through proxy companies, you name it, to avoid paying taxes.

Think about it: We want world-class roads, cheap subsidised goods, great hospitals, schools that work, flood fixes, MRTs and LRTs, safety – we demand all of that but then we turn around and act like paying for it is optional.